Driver crashes into Alachua McDonald's

CARL MCKINNEY/Alachua County Today

This is where the driver hit the building. The cracks run alongside the entire wall, which will require complete replacement.

ALACHUA – A driver crashed into the side of the McDonald’s in Alachua on Christmas.

At around 5 p.m. Christmas day, Justin Sintow, 23, was coming off Interstate 75. He failed to stop at the red light and rolled through the intersection, driving through bushes and straight into the McDonald’s building, said Jesse Sandusky, public information officer for the Alachua Police Department.

He was driving a 2013 silver Audi. Sintow was the only person in the vehicle and did not appear to be injured, Sandusky said.

The entire wall he crashed into will have to be replaced, said a maintenance worker at the restaurant.

“He was lucky,” the worker said. The McDonald’s was closed, so nobody was inside the building.

When the driver went through the bushes, his car ripped the Christmas decorations on them and scattered them near the wall.

Sintow was arrested and charged with failing to stop at a red light and driving under the influence, but not necessarily of alcohol.

The investigation is ongoing, Sandusky said, and the DUI could possibly be related to narcotics.

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